Would your organization or workplace like to hear from a speaker from West Coast LEAF?

As West Coast LEAF is a non-profit organization, we rely on grants, membership fees and donations to do our work. An $100 honorarium to support our work would be greatly appreciated. We recognize that there are groups for which this minimum charge would not be feasible and we will make every effort to accommodate your organization.

West Coast LEAF’s Mandate is to advance equality and human rights for women through the law in BC and Canada according to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and human rights laws. Since 1985 West Coast LEAF and LEAF have intervened in over one hundred equality cases before the Supreme Court of Canada and lower courts. This experience coupled with our legal research and education programs uniquely positions West Coast LEAF to speak to some of the key issues impacting women’s equality.

The Topics

West Coast LEAF

West Coast LEAF has over 25 years of experience working on issues related to women’s equality. This understanding is rooted in a diverse range of equality based litigation, a clear voice on law reform and listening to the experience of women through our public legal education.

Reproductive Rights

Reproductive rights have been a key area of work for LEAF, acting as an intervener in the groundbreaking Morgentaler Case. West Coast LEAF continues to work in this area defending women’s right to access safe and legal abortions in cases like Lewis, Demers and Watson/Spratt.

Women’s Rights and Religious Freedom

Issues like polygamy, family law, women’s access to abortion and same sex marriage – all involve questions about religion, faith, and the reality of women’s lives and freedoms. West Coast LEAF has built a body of research on these issues that emerge when religious freedom and women’s equality intersect.

Family Law

Women continue to bear the economic and social burdens of family care-giving; women continue to face poverty upon marriage breakdown; women continue to lose out in the division of family assets, and women continue to bear the brunt of cuts to family law legal aid and the weaknesses of the family law justice system. Through the Family Law Project, West Coast LEAF has developed experience in litigation, law reform and legal education on all of these issues.

Single Mothers’ Human Rights

West Coast LEAF understands that the basic human rights of low income women have been deteriorating in BC – that legislative and policy choices have made it harder for single mothers to meet their own needs and the needs of their families. These legislative choices breach international, national and provincial commitments to equality and human rights.